Getting Creative in 2019

Happy New Year! It’s a little late, I know, but it still feels pretty new to me. Like many of us, I made some plans and resolutions for 2019 and one of them was to spend more time being creative (thanks Jill Kuhn for your inspiration!)

The biggest hurdle I’ve had with this was not finding the motivation, but finding a convenient space where I could spread out and not have to put everything away each time my family needed to have a meal! Some of my supplies were down in the basement, some in the kitchen hutch, a few in the pantry and even my bedroom closet! Well that’s all changed now!

My husband slaved through the last few weeks of the summer renovating what was formerly the kids play area downstairs (I mean, our youngest is 20, I think they are past needing it!) He moved his collections and “man cave” stuff down there as well as our guest area, freeing up our smallest bedroom for my art space. Yay!

Weeks were spent clearing out the room, stripping wallpaper and painting the walls a nice bright white. We are planning on replacing the carpet with a clean grey laminate but I’ll have to save a bit more for that. I’d purchased a smaller, black desk for our computer, which will still share the room so that was moved in. The final step was assembling the amazing new art desk my wonderful hubby had given me for my birthday back in December. It’s got so many compartments and it’s on wheels!

I’ve been picking up items here and there, curtains and cool storage containers (Anyone who knows me can tell you I get weirdly jazzed about organization!) My sister had a nifty little bookcase up for grabs (we actually traded her the bed frame from that room that we no longer needed-win/win!) and I was able to find a desk chair that looks brand new for just $25 on one of those online yard sale sites.

Then….FINALLY….this past Sunday, I collected my many art supplies from their many hiding places and put them away in my very own art room!! I’ve been like a kid on Christmas morning, just giddy with excitement and creative motivation, painting and experimenting with new techniques. One of the best parts is thatI can just leave it all out, ready for the next time I find a few minutes to create. I do have to remember to close the door, though, so the cat won’t walk through the wet paint or eat the brushes. She’s like that!

I’m hoping that this new found creative jag lasts a long, long time making 2019 the year of creativity! It just goes to show that sometimes resolutions or plans can take some patience, a bit of elbow grease and a little faith but they can happen. May all your plans for the coming year be every bit as gratifying!

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If We Were Having Coffee…Plans For January

If we were having coffee today you would notice that the “view from the porch” is a snowy and fridge one.  I think temperature today here in south Jersey will top out at 21 degrees (brrr!). A story in the paper this morning said that they may even postpone the Philadelphia Mummers Parade tomorrow because the brass instruments keep freezing up.  Hard to play “Golden Slippers” when you have to keep breaking icicles off your  trombone!

Anyway, if we were having coffee today you might also say to me “Where the heck you been, Lady?!”  According to my WordPress dashboard, its been five months since my last post.  I could blame this on my iPad which kept freezing up and crashing every time I tried to post or I could blame it on a lack of time, motivation and ideas.  All of these would be true.  However, thanks to Santa, I now have a new IPad and a nifty Bluetooth keyboard that will make posting less technically challenging and since  the holidays have passed, or at least our hosting responsibilities which wrapped up with a gathering of friends last night, I have gobs more time.

So this morning I noticed that every January I find myself in this same weird state of mind.  For months before (since we also hosted Thanksgiving this year as well as Christmas) my mind is full of details and plans, a nonstop whirlwind of things to do and remember.  Then the week after Christmas when all the gifts are given, all the food is cooked and serving dishes stowed away once more my brain says, “Hey, what’s with all this room in here? Where are all the things we need to arrange and acccomplish?  What am I suppose to do with my time now?!” Although its nice to let my poor tired brain rest for a bit, I also know we will both go bonkers without some kind of plans for the cold months to come so I am dedicating this “Coffee Share Post” to listing the things my brain (and body) can acccomplish now that things have slowed down.  This blog post is the first thing on my list as will be (hopefully) more regular ones in the future.

Number two on my January “To Do” list is creating a scrapbook from the pile of 112 (yes, 112) photos stacked on my desk.  In November my sister and I took a trip to Hollywood to visit my nephew.  It was quite an adventure, which I plan on doing a series of posts about, but documenting it in paper form is also a goal.  I’m one of those weird people who actually still prints out photos and puts them in books.  I love being able to leaf back though the memories.

So there’s that to accomplish.

Next, D-man’s stepmom has been asking me to paint a portrait of her son’s dog.  Poor Oscar passed away a few months back and she wanted a portrait to give her son in memory.  This is a lovely idea and even though animals aren’t my best thing, I will give it a try.  I’ll keep you updated on that.

Another plan is to start an indoor herb garden.  I have a box that will fit in my kitchen window sill.  Now to work out the logistics.

I also need to work on getting my feet fixed.  To explain, thanks to family genetics, I have incredibly flat feet.  No arch what so ever. Nada.  This translates, with age, into bunions, the result of the bones in your feet pushing apart to compensate for their flatness. Ouch, right?  I have orthopedic insole that I have worn for years that help with the pain but they are in need of replacement and even with them, I am going to have to break down and have surgery eventually. Six weeks in a boot is not my idea of fun and also even less fun,  here in the U.S with our wonderfully inefficient healthcare  system, the first step in all of this is dealing with the insurance company. Ugh. That’s why I’ve put it off as long as I have but January is the end of procrastination!

Well, my brain feels much happier now.  I’m sorry I’ve run on so long but now that I have a plan I no longer see the cold months ahead looming like a black hole!  Thanks for listening.   Let’s warm up your coffee and you can fill me in on what’s been going on with your brain!

Many thanks to “Eclectic Allie” for hosting the Coffee Share.  Stop by and check out the rest of the posts.